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progVisions is a progressive rock e-zine, published in English and made by an international group of members. Our objective is to become a centre of information that contributes to the knowledge, growth and development of progressive rock.

concert review

Supertramp - Madrid - April - 2002

I must admit I wasn´t built up hopes. I didn´t want
to go to Supertramp show in Madrid
because I didn´t want to muddle all the memories I had from
shows I´ve assisted before. On the other hand the deception
of the last CD boded a lazy show. Only the endearing attitude
and insistence of Ángeles
planning everything made me finally decide, and I found myself
one hour before the show inside a traffic jam I couldn´t
imagine. The surroundings of Palacio de Vistalegre were plenty
of cars and people, the most of them in their thirties but there
were also many people in their twenties and fifties, everyone
of them with the same destination: The show in Madrid of the probably
last tour of the band.

The show starts in a classic way: punctuality and "School".
It´s nothing but a little mirage because quickly the show
becomes algo insulsa with songs included in the new CD as "Slow
Motion", "Over You" and "Tenth
Avenue Breakdown", la mediocre "Sooner
or Later" o los desafortunados "Cannonbal"
or "Free As A Bird".
The interlude with "Bloody Well Right"
was very appreciated.

From that moment on, the best songs of the night with "Downstream"
as starting point -a beautiful melody as this doesn´t need
big special effects, Davies, his
piano, and that´s all -. After that, wonderful songs such
as "Asylum", animated
by J.A. Helliwell, "From Now On"
-one of the band´s few suites - and the catchy "Goodbye
Stranger". The most acclaimed songs were those composed
by Hodgson: "Give A Little Bit",
"Take the long way home" and "The
Logical Song". Although Mark
Hart did the best he could in order to imitate the Hodgson´s
vocals, he didn´t get the goal and he even sung out of tune
several times. Another highlight of the show was a new version
of "Another Man´s Woman".
Everybody wanted to know which new arrangements and changes was
Davies going to add in this great
song. This year there was also the presence of a swimmer with
a parasol inspired by "Crisis? What
Crisis?" Cover.

Anyway I can imagine the deep pain suffered by Rick
Davies watching the crowd went wild with the classic songs
composed by Hodgson. And I´d
add a commentary: where were, in May 2000, all those 15.000 people
who were applauding this songs, when the author played in Madrid
and only were around 500 fans enjoying one of the most amazing
shows in years?

As always the last songs were "Rudy"
and "The Crime Of The Century",
the song that always closes the shows. They also played a rhythm&blues
taken from the last CD: "Broken Hearted".
And that was all. This time the die-hard fans didn´t cry
for more songs. Everything was already said. A show with less
more than two hours with good and bad moments although I must
admit that for an hour or so everybody could feel the Supertramp
everybody remind.

My last comments will be about the changes in the line up; after
the desertions of R.Hodgson and
D.Thomson and the incorporation
of the mediocres Mark Hart, Cliff Hugo,
Lee Thornburg and Carl Verheyen,
the new member is Bob Siebemberg´s
song -Jesse- who admirably
helps the band with percussion, keyboards and guitars.

In the same way the video screens showed us again the same video
that the band recorded more than twenty years ago: "Rudy´s"
wonderful stellar journey ending with the grilles of the "Crime
of the Century"... very original time ago but now
very outmoded... I think it´s time for the band to vary
or upgrade the video films.

And finally: The Palacio de Vistalegre,
-a bullring with ceiling-, could be great for a bullfight or a
basketball match, it hasn´t the minimum acoustic conditions
for a great rock show.